It is a journey.... Who am I kidding... It is a race. But should not always be treated as one. Sometimes the person who is patient and grinds it out can be much better off than the person who is always going absolutely as hard as they can.
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| This could be YOU! |
Triathlon is not about who does the fastest mile repeats. It is not about who can sprint to the next city limits sign first. It is about who can put together three different sports in the most efficient way. It is a balancing act between a job, family, life and sport (three of them actually). It is about slowly increasing your training load while still making time for sleep. It is about keeping yourself in control. It is being at a party with three different girls. If you don't give each one enough attention you run the risk of getting a drink thrown in your face and going home by yourself. But if you play your cards right you may go home with all three! (I have not been able to prove this metaphor to be true in real life yet... One day though... one day)
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| ESA... Its a thing! |
It took me quite a long time to figure out I was good at endurance sports. Throughout high school and college I was very mediocre at a number of team sports. I lifted weights and viewed running a mile as a competent workout. Two years out of college at the age of 24 I found running. Initially it was simply a way for me to get a workout in when I didn't belong to a gym. Then I got talked into doing a Muddy Buddy Race with a friend. Finishing the race was my hook. I had that feeling of accomplishment and pride that is not easy to come by (step one in the path to Endurance Sports Addiction (ESA). Then I started tracking my runs in a log (Step 2). I proceeded to buy a Garmin to help me track my workouts more efficiently (Step 3). Then I did a marathon (Step 8)... I never said my training made sense.
A month after my marathon I found myself injured. Unable to run. I knew about triathlon and decided to give it a whirl. I progressed as a swimmer and cyclist in a similar way. Going all in and hoping I land on my feet. I kept wanting to get faster and faster. I quickly increased the volume and intensity of my workouts. Although I saw short term gains, this path led straight to Injuryville - population me.
Here is what I am getting at... There are no shortcuts to speed. Training to get fast is not a race. It is a journey. You can do as much volume, speed work and intervals as you want but it will not get you faster in the long term unless you do it strategically. Triathlon is not about your biggest week in a specific training block. It is about putting in as much work as you can in the long term. Go ahead and listen to Johnny who gloats about putting in 22 hours of training last week. He will probably put in 6 hours next week. When Sally invites you to do 8x800s on the track after her long run yesterday and 9 mile tempo run the day before you can comfortably say "no". She will probably be in a knee brace next month.
One of the most important lessons I have learned in my two years of triathlon is patience. Getting fast in a sport that requires skill at three different disciplines takes time. Your maximum training load has to be steadily increased over time over all three disciplines. I have friends who can put in 16-17 hour weeks every week without fail. They have been in the sport for 8 years and their bodies are used to the load. I understand that this is not the case for me. I know I can comfortably do 10-12 hour weeks for as long as I want. Every month or so I will increase that (say by 20%) to stress my body. I will push myself out of this comfort zone. Slowly my comfort zone will increase. As I am able to increase my training load, the speed I am able to race at will follow suit. The trick is find your "comfort zone". You want to push yourself out of this while not going too far as to get injured.
The trick is to treat triathlon training as a war. Not a battle. It takes strategy, patience and perseverance. Find the load that is sustainable for you right now and SLOWY increase that. You will thank yourself in the long run. And your competitors will curse the day you ever read this blog.
